Fletcher, Banister; Fletcher, Banister: A history of architecture for the student, craftsman, and amateur: being a comparative view of the historical styles from the earliest period (London, 1896)

EGYPTIAN ARCHITECTURE.

“Those works where man has rivalled nature most,

Those Pyramids, that fear no more decay
Than waves inflict upon the rockiest coast,

Or winds on mountain steeps, and like endurance boast.”

i. INFLUENCES.

i. Geographical.—The civilization of every country has
been, as we hope to be able to show, largely determined by
its geographical conditions. The characteristic features of
the land in which any race dwells shapes their mode of life
and thus influences their intellectual culture.

On referring to the map (No. i)we find that Egypt consists
of a sandy desert with a strip of very fertile country on the
banks of the Nile. Egypt was the only nation of the
ancient world which had at once easy access to the Northern
Sea, or Mediterranean, as well as to the Eastern, or
Arabian sea; for by way of the Red Sea, Egypt always
commanded an access to both these highways. The con-
sequence was that Egypt had outlets for her own productions
and inlets for those of foreign nations. The possession of
the Nile, moreover, was of immense advantage, not only on
account of its value as a trade route, and as a means of
communication, but also because its waters were the
fertilizing agents that made desert sands into fruitful fields.
It was on the banks of this classic river that the ancient
cities of the Egyptians were naturally placed; here, therefore,
are found the chief remains of the Tombs, Temples, and
Pyramids which have come down to us.

ii. Geological.—In this section throughout the volume
we shall endeavour to trace that influence on the architecture
of each country which the materials at hand had in the